the shifter comparooooo

i remember reading a little while ago a thread about 2 in detail comparisions about the xmetal and B&M shifters, i am gonna buy 1 but just wanted to read it and make a decision, does anyone have the link to that specific thread? what seems to the be the shifter everyone is buying up? vnmpowered said B&M and thats all i know so far

Boomers shifter is the way to go...... Just my opinion though

Dude, anything is better than the stocker!!!!!! I have Boomers gen 1 shifter and have no reasons to upgrade beyond as it works great for me. Charles (mmmtorque) has had gen 1 and gen 4 and mentioned that the gen 1 was smoother.

Do expect to get some noise with any aftermarket shifter.

Check the for sale threads. Definatly some good deals on used ones out there.

patrick

I have had all three,b&m ,xmetal ,and hurst , i went back to the hurst,for the way i drive it works fine.:elefant:

I went from stock to B&M to GenX. I've still got the GenX in the truck. If your going to use a "T" handle on your shifter, there is a slight twist to the GenX that is exaggerated with the "T" handle. It's not detectable with a ball shifter. The GenX is really pretty quiet and feels really slick in your hand.

Hurst sucked, went to B&M and liked it OK, when the Gen X came out I thought it would be the very best, took it out after about 3 mos. and put the B&M back in. Very pleased with the B&M.

FATJACK said:

Hurst sucked, went to B&M and liked it OK, when the Gen X came out I thought it would be the very best, took it out after about 3 mos. and put the B&M back in. Very pleased with the B&M.

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What didn't you like about the GenX? It might help him with his decision plus I'm curious since I like mine.

I removed the rubber isolater out of the factory hurst,and for now,I'm loving it!!

First off I bought the RC used from VnmPwrd. I know mine has the B&M but with the steel shaft instead of the aluminum. A few people have driven it including Trainman and Izzy. Maybe they can chime in on this since I don't know what the stocker was like. All I know is I have no problem finding third just a problem of trying to shift fast enough (user problems).

I just switched out the shifter and the shaft to a Gunslinger with a pistol grip shifter handled and love it. I never miss 3rd gear, but I also drive conservitably.

Bruce

SilvrSRT10 said:

What didn't you like about the GenX? It might help him with his decision plus I'm curious since I like mine.

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To me the throw feels longer than the B&M, shifter length cannot be adjusted without using smaller bolts than fit the holes and i just could not get used to the twisting between gears. I sold that bitch and went back to B&M.

SilvrSRT10 said:

I went from stock to B&M to GenX. I've still got the GenX in the truck. If your going to use a "T" handle on your shifter, there is a slight twist to the GenX that is exaggerated with the "T" handle. It's not detectable with a ball shifter. The GenX is really pretty quiet and feels really slick in your hand.

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I have the Gen X as well, and the "TWIST" is very apparent!!

sounds like B&M is the way to go

How much of a shorter throw is the Gen-X? Like 15-20% less throw or a lot more than that? I'm still keen to look at those custom pistol grip shifters too..... anyone know who does those again? I'll do a search after this but until then?

I have X-metals Gen IV and love it. The twisting action is so slight and barely detectable with the ball but the ability to slam the gears very quickly far outweights this slight fault. What type of driving style do you prefer. From all my research before I chose my shifter back in 06, I found that for more conservative driving the B&M was prefered. For more spirited driving and to really feel the shifts, the X-Metal was prefered. I was weary at first to go with the X-metal but have been very pleased with it for the past year of ownership!! To explain further, the X-metal has a very positive and clunky gear engagement. The 2nd to 3rd shift is flawless, just push the shifter up on an angle from 2nd and it hits everytime. I have the Jedi Handle so its pretty quiet with 2 and 4th being the louder gears. Plus with the Jedi handle, it can be put together in so many different variations you're sure to find a combo that fits you near perfect! I'm not trying to hock the X-metal product, I picked mine up used. I am very surprised on how the tide has turned thought. When I first joined up in 06, everyone was singing the praise of the Gen I and Gen IV X-metal and complaining about the B&M being too close to stock, what gives!

I went a different route, and I truly love the shifter I put in. I bought a Hurst "E" body reproduction shifter stick from Summit Racing (part number HUU-5388575 for $145.95).

The problem I found with the OEM Hurst shifter stick has been discussed many times in this site. It is very sloppy due to the rubber isolators used to dampen vibration emanating from the transmission stalk. The OEM shifter base is attached to the stalk with a u-channel bracket that has two bolts to pass through the holes on the trans stalk. The shoulders on the bolts are slightly larger than 3/8" in diameter while the holes on the shifter stick are 3/4" in diameter. Rubber isolators are sandwiched in the holes between the bolt sides and the hole openings. Under any torque, the OEM shifter stick twists inside the shifter stalk turning the throws into a guessing game as to which shift rail they will operate.

The reproduction Hurst pistol-grip "E-body" shifter stick possesses two 3/8" diameter holes in the base whose center point matches the OEM Hurst shifter stick. The base on the "E-body" shifter is slightly wider than the base on the OEM Hurst shifter stick.

I took the reproduction shifter stick and, using a drill press, opened up the holes slightly to slip tightly over the bracket's bolts shoulders. I also had to slim the base down about one MM (1/32") on each side to fit into the bracket. I then reattached the bracket to the reproduction shifter stick and bolted it back to the OEM transmission stalk. I used the rubber isolators to help minimize vibration caused by the metal to metal contact.

Having a vintage 1970-74 "E-body" pistol-grip shifter really looks good in my truck (2004 Red), and the swap has improved shifting tremendously. No more mystery shifts. The shifter goes where it is supposed to go with only slight negative or positive bias needed whether upshifting or downshifting. There is some additional vibration noise that was not present with the OEM stick, but nothing like that experienced by the whole shifter replacements changes.

I would recommend considering this option as it is less expensive and requires very little effort to install.

Jim
Raleigh, NC
2143 of 3057

I went to the Gen IV, and now have the Gen X. I played around with a pistol grip handle with the Gen IV but the twisting action with a pistol grip made shifting harder. With the Gen X and back to a shifter ball, shifts are fool proof. You have to let the shifter do the work, and you can really slam 2
to 3. The twisting action is there from 1 to 2 to line you up with 3. With the Jedi handle, it's very quiet as well.

lbstone said:

I have X-metals Gen IV and love it. The twisting action is so slight and barely detectable with the ball but the ability to slam the gears very quickly far outweights this slight fault. What type of driving style do you prefer. From all my research before I chose my shifter back in 06, I found that for more conservative driving the B&M was prefered. For more spirited driving and to really feel the shifts, the X-Metal was prefered. I was weary at first to go with the X-metal but have been very pleased with it for the past year of ownership!! To explain further, the X-metal has a very positive and clunky gear engagement. The 2nd to 3rd shift is flawless, just push the shifter up on an angle from 2nd and it hits everytime. I have the Jedi Handle so its pretty quiet with 2 and 4th being the louder gears. Plus with the Jedi handle, it can be put together in so many different variations you're sure to find a combo that fits you near perfect! I'm not trying to hock the X-metal product, I picked mine up used. I am very surprised on how the tide has turned thought. When I first joined up in 06, everyone was singing the praise of the Gen I and Gen IV X-metal and complaining about the B&M being too close to stock, what gives!

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A lot of people dislike Boomer. It seems to be mostly personal and not objective to the product.

I enjoy my Gen IV and wouldn't trade it for any other.

thats the ones i was looking for thanks